We hear John Main saying in his talk entitled, Set your mind on the Kingdom, “Jesus is at the center of our soul.” By setting our minds on the Kingdom of God and establishing conscious contact with our own being, we are essentially maintaining our Christ Connection.

2017 has been a difficult year to dial in the focus on. This January it is not just about recovering from the 366-day year of 2016 and the rush and excitement of the Christmas season, it is about the political climate that we are in the midst of in America today. We are crossing our fingers, holding our breath and just hoping for the best that we and our families will get through the next presidential administration unscathed. Change is not easy for us. We feel as if we are stepping off the escalator and not sure what we are stepping into, or if our feet will cause us to stumble and fall as they grip the floor.

Now more than ever we have to be vigilant about peace. I am talking about the peace within ourselves. We need to maintain our Christ connection in order to get through these times and ride out the storm with a “Peaceful Easy Feeling” (The Eagles), and to be able to impart that feeling to everyone we encounter in our lives each day. We need to have tolerance, kindness and love for all. We need to banish uncharitable thoughts about anyone (including ourselves) right out of our minds and stay close to Christ with conscious living, eating, speaking, writing and actions.

Anytime you turn to the news these days there is a potential threat to your inner peace. Someone wants to get you riled up about something; a hideous crime has been reported and innocent lives have been taken; someone’s misfortune is tugging at your heartstrings and changes your mood to blue; your worries and suspicions overcome you and soon you are fearful, unhappy, un-peaceful and in a foul mood. This is when Christian Meditation is at its most effective. This is when we must turn to Christ and keep the lines of communication of our Christ connection open and free of static. We must “Go to the Mantra” as the characters in The Godfather said in times of shoot-outs, “Go to the mattresses.”